What drills should I run? Which players should sit on the bench? What are the different positions called?

These concerns, which can be abundant for new soccer coaches, can be answered in Michael B.J. Farley’s Win the Ball. Win the Ball is a guide for new coaches or parents wishing to coach soccer. It gives advice on how to host the coach’s first meeting with players and their parents, how to hold a practice and what to expect during a game, among other things.

“When I wrote the book, I was redundant because I knew I was talking to someone who didn’t know the sport,” Farley said. “I tried to be as non-complicated as possible.”

Farley, an NIU graduate and former employee, has taught 26 grade-school soccer teams in the past 30 years. He began coaching soccer when his son, Mike, signed him up with the league.

“I have to give all the credit to my son, Mike, for wanting me to coach,” Farley said.

While Farley wanted new coaches to know how to teach the fundamentals of soccer, he also wanted them to remember that it is a game and that players should be having fun.

“Coaching with an attitude that children are individuals and that you want the children to enjoy the experience [is important],” Farley said. “There’s a lot of things in life more important and more valuable than winning a soccer game.”

While Farley frequently worked with the players on the field, he also worked with other coaches.

“Mike is very knowledgeable and was able to get the kids, regardless of their earlier experiences (or lack thereof, on some occasions), to maintain their positions and not just run after the ball,” said Jeffrey Parness, NIU Law Professor and an assistant coach of Farley’s for four years. “By the end of the season, the team was always very disciplined.”

Farley also said he had to thank his son Mike for telling him to write the book. In January 2008, Farley visited his son and that was when the writing process began.

“In the last 20 minutes of my visit to my son we started the outline of this book,” Farley said. He finished the book in May 2010.